Vo Knows

Is madness a hereditary gene? Sometimes I wonder. I know my father has always been a motor head and a speed junkie, thus it is no surprise my search for adrenaline seems endless. It has led me to this point in my career, that’s for sure.

It makes me wonder what Robbie Maddison’s father and mother are like. In case you aren’t up to speed, he’s the Australian freestyle MX rider who is going to attempt to break another Guinness World Record on New Year’s Eve in the second Red Bull New Year No Limits event. Last year the likable, easy going guy set a world distance record, jumping over 322 feet to ring in the New Year. It was insane, to say the very least. Then he tried it again, attempting to beat his record immediately after, but wind helm him back. One was crazy enough, the second was totally bonkers; the kid has issues.

Now he’s back, this time attempting to jump vertically over 100 feet onto the top of the mock Arc de Triomphe in front of Paris Las Vegas. Upon completing the jump, he will then drop off the Arc and freefall 50 feet to a massive landing ramp below. Not to mention his 9-5 job is as a professional FMX rider, doing backflip variations over 100-plus foot jumps on a daily basis.

Joining him is Rhys Millen, multi-time drifting champion and Hollywood stunt driver extraordinaire. Millen is going to backflip of trophy truck. Crazy? Check. And that brings me back to my original point: is madness a result of nature or nurture? I’m not too sure, but I’m hedging my bets that Maddison and Millen’s parents aren’t your average, run-of-the-mill, backgammon playing kind of people.

Either way, we are going to be onsite for Maddo’s jump, more details of which you can see here. God bless the crazy gene, it’s good to know there are plenty of us with it out there…